Deborah A. Napolitano, Ph.D.

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Research Bio

Dr. Napolitano has broad research interests in the area of developmental and intellectual disabilities such as Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS). Her research has focused on three primary areas, a) biobehavioral interventions (e.g., effects of medication on problem behavior and the interaction between medication and behavioral interventions) b) functional assessment and treatment of severe problem behavior, and c) interventions for repetitive behavior. Dr. Napolitano has obtained research funding to examine interventions to increase diverse responding in persons with ASD.

Dr. Napolitano also has worked with her research mentors on several federally funded research projects. She worked as a project coordinator for Dr. Steven Schroeder at the University of Kansas on a clinical trial of Risperdal for persons with autism and other developmental and intellectual disabilities and most recently at the University of Rochester as a co-investigator on Dr. Jennifer Zarcone's research examining the compulsive behavior of persons with Prader-Willi Syndrome.